In this HR article, we share a summary of some interesting statistics that were released in 2019.
Brexit: EU Settlement Scheme
In August 2019, the one-millionth person was granted a status under the scheme which allows EU citizens currently residing and working in the UK under the right to free movement, to continue to do so after the UK leaves the European Union.
However, this still leaves two-thirds of Europeans currently living and working in the UK to register for this status. Managers and HR departments are encouraged to support their European workers with awareness of the scheme in order that they may protect their existing right to work.
HR Guidance: watch our webinar, Brexit HR and Employment Law – Where are We Now? to find out more about the future right to work of EU citizens in the UK.
Family Friendly: Flexible Work Improves Mental Health
The 2019 Flexible Working Survey conducted by Wildgoose suggests that flexible working can improve productivity, work-life balance and mental health. The survey allowed the employees of 114 companies to anonymously take part in the research.
69% of workers currently not offered flexible working say that they would be more productive if they could, as they would be able to work at times better suited to them.
60% of UK employees surveyed feel the regular 9-5 no longer works for them as they try to balance life in and out of work.
Over 39% of the people surveyed who work flexibly see a noticeable improvement in their mental health. Similarly, almost 43% of people who do not have the option of flexible working, feel it would enable them to better manage their mental health. When you split this out by gender, half of men not working in a flexible working environment say that doing so would help them better manage their mental health, in comparison to just 1/3 of women.
It was found that flexibility of working hours can also reduce the cost of desk space, enable organisations to attract higher quality employees and improve employee retention.
HR Guidance: sign up to our free September webinar Flexible working – employer obligations.
Pay and Benefits: Executive Pay
The High Pay Centre thinktank and the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) have found that the median pay rates of CEO’s in the UK was 13% lower than usual between 2017 and 2018. It is believed this was due to increased restraints put in place for large salaries and lower payouts made in long term incentive plans (LTIPs). LITPs are considered to make up the largest part of a chief executives’ pay, with 84% of CEOs receiving them.
Even with this fall, CEO’s pay is still 117 times higher than the average pay of a full-time worker (£29,574).
HR Guidance: read our article Executive pay ratio reports.
